Chapter 70
"Actually, if I were to give you the elixir, I could have just given it to you without telling the family head, but the reason I asked to see you today was not to boast, but because I wanted to ask for your opinion."
At the words of the family head of the Baek family, the family head of the Danli family nodded.
"I hear that our son-in-law has taken various elixirs and pills. So it seems that even if he takes some of them at this stage, it will not be of great help in increasing his internal energy. The elixir of our main family is just like that. So I am not trying to say that I will save it. We are also willing to give it to the Danli family. We know that the Danli family has done a lot for our son-in-law, so we want to balance it out even if it's just by doing that."
The family head of the Danli family had not thought that the family head of the Baek family would go that far.
But he could not just accept it.
If he accepted that, wouldn't it look like he had been supporting Ya Socheong because he wanted something from him?
It wasn't that he had no selfish motives, but now, his heart of purely supporting and cherishing Ya Socheong was greater.
He just hoped that Ya Socheong would cherish Pae Maling a little more than Baek Yuhwa.
He had no desire to make Ya Socheong the Heavenly Demon.
Because it seemed that Ya Socheong would naturally rise to that position over time, even if people next to him did not try to make him so.
Some people's noses break even when they fall backward, but whatever Ya Socheong did, things strangely worked out.
It seemed that Ya Socheong was a person born to become the Heavenly Demon, and when he did something, he received people's attention and respect.
Since he was such a Ya Socheong, it seemed that it would be impossible for him to live quietly in a low place from the beginning.
"If possible, I hope that the day our son-in-law directly clashes with the Sect Leader will come as late as possible, but how can that be as we think? Still, since we can't avoid it forever, we must prepare for it."
At the words of the family head of the Baek family, the family head of the Danli family also agreed.
It was known that the Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-san already possessed the internal energy of four sixty-year cycles.
No matter how much internal energy Ya Socheong had accumulated through energy circulation and elixirs, it would at most be a little over one sixty-year cycle.
The problem was that the elixirs that could have the effect of increasing internal energy by several decades when taken alone did not produce their original effect when they were overlapped with other things.
If it weren't for that, Ya Socheong would have already had more than two sixty-year cycles of internal energy, and that was a shame.
It was a great thing that Ya Socheong had more than one sixty-year cycle of internal energy at his age, but now that he was in a state where he could be attacked by the Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-san at any time, he could not be satisfied with that.
"From now on, I will be honest. I believe that the heart of the main family is not different from the heart of the Danli family. And since you have rejected my previous proposal, I will make another proposal. Instead of dividing the elixirs that can be obtained by mobilizing all the financial power of our main family and the elixirs that can be obtained by mobilizing all the financial power of the Danli family, how about we compete with one elixir that can be obtained by mobilizing all the financial power of our two places?"
At the words of the family head of the Baek family, the eyes of the family head of the Danli family shone.
In any case, it seemed that it had to be that way now.
It seemed that it would be difficult to see an effect that could catch up with the Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-san by just feeding him a few more mediocre elixirs.
The family head of the Danli family did not hesitate for long and nodded.
"Is there such a thing?"
"I am looking into it. For now, I thought I had to know your will to proceed further, so I requested this meeting."
"Good. If there is such a thing, the main family will also actively help."
The two were glad that their intentions had been communicated.
"It is a relief that our minds are in agreement at a time like this. From now on, let the two families not clash with each other and help each other."
"Good."
At the words of the family head of the Baek family, the family head of the Danli family nodded pleasantly and said.
For hundreds of years, no family head would have been able to say such a thing to the family head of the other.
If someone had said such a thing, they would have been laughed at, being told that it was not even worth a penny.
But no one would have made such a proposal in the first place.
But now, a harmony that could not have been imagined in the past had been achieved.
All of that had been achieved because of one person, Ya Socheong.
"Just by looking at this, it seems that our son-in-law is truly a great person."
At the words of the family head of the Danli family, the family head of the Baek family nodded repeatedly.
"Then from now on, the main family will focus on finding the elixir. Since the elixirs in the Heavenly Demon Sect are similar in nature to what our son-in-law has taken, the effect of increasing internal energy is likely to be halved, so I am thinking of secretly sending people to the martial world to find out."
"Then please do so. We also have people who are out in the martial world, so we will have them find out."
"Thank you."
Without even imagining what a thrilling agreement they had reached, Ya Socheong focused on his training.
If he had known that two families were preparing to squander their fortunes to make one person strong, Ya Socheong might have suffocated from the pressure.
And whether it should be said to be fortunate for Ya Socheong, the Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-san moved up his plan.
The junior sect leader competition was moved up much earlier than its original date, and the rising generation martial arts tournament was simply omitted.
* * *
The Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-san's eldest son, Dan Mok-hwawun, second son, Dan Mok-heukya, eldest daughter, Dan Mok-seol, and third son, Dan Mok-cheongyeong.
And Ya Socheong and Pae Maseong, who had recently made a great contribution to the revival of the Heavenly Demon Sect.
The announcement that those six people would be participating in the junior sect leader competition was posted in various places throughout the Heavenly Demon Sect.
Pae Maseong, who had gone out of the sect early, was not summoned and was disqualified, but that luck did not follow Ya Socheong.
In any case, since Dan Mok-san had been aiming for Ya Socheong from the beginning, he would not have let Ya Socheong go no matter what.
If Ya Socheong had not been in the Heavenly Demon Sect at that time and had been in a situation where he could not participate, he would have waited until Ya Socheong returned and then started the competition.
People, seeing the announcement, secretly cheered for Ya Socheong.
All the others were junior lords, and only Ya Socheong was out of place, but not many people asked who he was when they saw his name.
Even if there were people who did not know his name, they would ask back if that person was Ya Socheong and be surprised after hearing just a few words of explanation.
Ya Socheong had a particularly good reputation in the martial world, and the rumor that his reputation was good in the martial world was also in the Heavenly Demon Sect.
So there was a perception that he was a person who was recognized even in the martial world, and there were many people in the sect who were proud of him.
"But will it be okay? It seems that there are no rules during the junior sect leader competition."
"That's what I'm saying. Faction Leader Ya has no force."
"Why does Faction Leader Ya have no force? The Nether Shadow Faction is not in the Heavenly Demon Sect now, but if the competition starts, they might come back and help from the side. And both the Baek family and the Danli family are Faction Leader Ya's in-laws. If so, he is not in a position to be told that he has absolutely no force compared to the other junior lords."
When someone said that, the others shook their heads.
"Still, that's not it. No matter how strong the family's martial force is, can it be as good as the Sect Leader's martial force? If just one or two of the top masters of the Heavenly Demon Sect are attached to the junior lords' guards, it will be an iron fortress."
That atmosphere was also felt directly around Ya Socheong.
Ya Socheong was now staying at the Danli family and had been sparring with Yeon Cheongha at the family head's private training ground for several days, but no one knew what the two of them were doing.
It was just that since Yeon Cheongha was from an assassin background, he might have been passing on attack methods using assassin arts.
The Danli family and the Baek family had agreed to secretly attach their most elite members to Ya Socheong, even if the Sect Leader did not allow it.
Since the junior lords would do that anyway, they had already completed their preparations.
The day before he left to officially participate in the junior sect leader competition, Ya Socheong took Baek Yuhwa and Pae Maling on a boat ride.
It was not a big boat like the one he had been on with Baek Yuhwa before, but a small boat that had to be rowed.
Ya Socheong, after going a little way from the ferry, floated the boat and urged the two of them.
"I plan to return safely, but you never know what will happen to a person, so you both must prepare for what comes after. If I can't come back, both families could be in trouble, so at that time, I hope you will leave the family without looking back. Don't have the old-fashioned thought that you have to share the fate of your family; I hope you will leave to find your happiness."
Baek Yuhwa and Pae Maling just smiled as they looked at Ya Socheong.
They thought that they had liked Ya Socheong because he was a person who would say such a thing at such a moment.
Ya Socheong did not demand anything grand from them and seemed to be constantly instigating them to be vile and cunning.
That if they became happy by doing so, wouldn't that be what was important and meaningful?
That was what he wanted.
Although Ya Socheong himself did not live like that, he wanted the people around him not to be sacrificed for other grand things and to just live comfortably and happily.
Baek Yuhwa and Pae Maling, at Ya Socheong's repeated words, nodded their heads, saying that they would.
"Still, it's a relief that the two of you are together. Please help each other and be a source of support for each other."
At Ya Socheong's request, the two nodded again.
"If you win the competition, will you become the junior sect leader?"
At Pae Maling's words, Ya Socheong looked at the empty air.
He hadn't thought of that answer because he didn't think he would win the competition.
Even if he won, the Sect Leader would not put him in the position of junior sect leader.
It seemed that he would do whatever it took to prevent such a thing from happening.
Since he had been called not to make him the junior sect leader, but to create an opportunity to eliminate him.
But he had no intention of being defeated so obediently, and Ya Socheong was also somewhat confident.
The junior lords were no match for Pae Maseong.
And he thought that he had already surpassed Pae Maseong to some extent.
So he was vaguely thinking that he would not be defeated so easily by the junior lords.
"When we go back, I'll row."
Pae Maling showed her enthusiasm.
Ya Socheong nodded and said that next time, the three of them should go on a tour of the martial world together.
Baek Yuhwa told him the places she wanted to go, and Pae Maling told him about the places she had seen.
In the meantime, the tension disappeared, and Ya Socheong once again strengthened his will to return to them quickly.
Compared to when he had first opened his eyes here, there were many good people around him.
It was something he could not have imagined then.
Just with that, wasn't it already about half a success? Ya Socheong smiled to himself with satisfaction.
(End of Chapter)